Matthew
Be Careful About What You Want to do for God
Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters — one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." Matthew 17:1-4
When we are in the clouds of Glory or the clouds of disappear
Only one thing stands out, only one thing remains - It is Jesus!
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17
Peter in the end was not known for building great shrines.
Peter was known for living for Christ.
Jesus Christ will build His Church of living stones.
Jesus conquered corruption
He conquered death, the decay and destruction of all things
He is transforming us through His death, burial and resurrection
So, we can be freed from corruption and death
That we might be built together into His Kingdom
A Kingdom that will never see corruption or death, for it is an eternal Kingdom
Because He is building with incorruptible material
Be Careful About What You Want to do for God
It seems so easy for us to miss the point.
We get an idea and run with it and miss the purpose.
I wonder how many times we do things
in the church that take our eyes off Jesus.
Peter’s experience on the Mount of Transfiguration
got him a rebuke.
He was standing with James and John
watching Moses, Elijah and Jesus talking.
We should ask ourself if we had seen Jesus
with His face like the sun and clothes white as light
having a conversation with Moses and Elijah…
What would we do?
What would we do in the moment?
What would we do later in life
with such a supernatural experience?
Peter said, wow it is good for us to be here.
What was he thinking?
He had to be thinking we are very special
to be the ones chosen to see this event.
If we are the special ones…
Then we should be the ones to do
something with what we saw.
He got the idea to make a shrine for each of them.
Notice that while Peter was still speaking…
God interrupted him,
not just with a voice,
but a cloud enveloped them.
The Father spoke and said…
"This is my Son, whom I love;
with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
Fear overtook the three men.
They fell to the ground.
When they looked up…
Moses and Elijah were gone.
The only one, they saw was Jesus.
Then Jesus told Peter, James and John
to keep their mouth shut.
Not to say a word about what they saw
until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So, what just happened?
Why Moses and Elijah?
Maybe it is because Moses represented the law of God
and all those who died under the law.
Elijah was a prophet who did not die
but was received up in the clouds.
Could it be these two were chosen
because Jesus Christ at His second coming
will raise from the dead.
All who died under the law and those alive
will meet Him in the clouds.
I wonder what the conversation was
between Jesus, Moses and Elijah.
Could it be…
They were talking about how Jesus
would bring to fulfillment everything
Moses and the law sought to accomplish.
Do you think Jesus and Elijah were talking
about how all the prophetic visions would be fulfilled.
Could it be Jesus was reassuring Moses and Elijah
that their life’s work for God will not be forgotten.
Certainly, Moses and Elijah were great men.
Peter had the idea of making
a shrine and a place of remembering.
But what was taking place was not
a moment to look back, but forward.
Hope for all who put their faith in God
whether under the law of Moses
or the spirit of Elijah.
God, the Father, put an abrupt stop
to Peter’s plans with these words…
"This is my Son, whom I love;
with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
Many have gotten caught up in the law of God
and many have gotten caught up in the prophetic visions.
But there is only One to get caught up in…
Jesus, the Son of God.
Listen to Him!
As they were coming down the mountain…
Jesus instructed them,
“Don’t tell anyone what you have seen,
until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Everything in the law and the prophets’ point
to a hope of everlasting life…
A spiritual kingdom.
At this time, Peter, James and John,
like the other followers of Jesus
were looking for the Messiah to come
and rule on Earth, a natural Kingdom.
This experience on the Mount of Transfiguration
like all the other teachings of Jesus
were to prepare us for an eternal Kingdom.
Remember just a week before this event…
Jesus was with His disciples
in the region of Caesarea Phillipi.
He was telling them the Gates of Hades will not overcome them
and giving them the Keys of the Kingdom.
Matthew 16:21 is key…
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
The Mount of Transfiguration was part
of Jesus explaining to His disciple,
His death and resurrection.
You and I need to make sure everything
we see in the past…
Points to Jesus.
Everything we see in the future…
Points to Jesus.
Everything we understand needs to go
through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
When we are in the clouds of Glory
or the cloud of disappear…
Only one thing stands out,
only one thing remains…
It is Jesus.
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed,
do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17
Peter in the end was not known
for building great shrines.
Peter was known for living for Christ.
Jesus Christ will build His Church of living stones.
Jesus conquered corruption,
He conquered death, the decay and destruction,
of all things.
He is transforming us through
His death, burial and resurrection.
So, we can be freed from corruption and death
that we might be built together into His Kingdom.
A Kingdom that will never see corruption or death,
for it is an eternal Kingdom…
Because He is building with incorruptible material.
1 Corinthians 15:50-58…
50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
55 "Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Scripture Reading
Matthew 17:1-13 NIV
17 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters — one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid." 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
10 The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"
11 Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
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